Airship



April 6 1926.

Y A. BRADFORD AIRSHIP Filed May 29, 1925 2. Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOB ui lklz/ Braag aizz/ ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 6 1 926.

MTED STATES ALLEN BRADFORD, OF POBTIA-ND, OREGON.

Amsnrr.

Application filed May 29, 1925- Serial No. 33,751.

To all whomit may concern:

Be it known that I, ALLEuBRADroRo, a citizen of the United statesy residing at Portland, in the county of Multnomah, State 5 of Oregon, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Airships, of which the following is a specification.

' This invention relates to an airship of the lighter than air type and aims. to provide an airship of this character which may be ballasted by means of air pumped into air containers organized with the structure of the airship. i

A further object resides in the provision of an airship having these advantages and capacities wherein the motors for drlving the propellers are located in the propeller lines and yet are so mounted and controllable as to be adapted to be drawn into or drawn adjacent to the cabin of the airship for purposes of repair or for other purposes.

Another object resides in the provision of an airship having these advantages and wherein means is provided for regulating the fore and aft trim or balance of the air- A still further ob ect resides in the provision of a device of this character which is of simple and durable construction, reliable and effective in operation and easy and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects and advantages reslde 1n certain novel features of the constructlon,

arrangement and combination of parts p p which will be hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed out 111 the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings for mmg a part of this specification, and in wh1ch Figure 1 is a view in side elevation showing an airship constructed in. accordance with the present invention, parts broken away for the sake of illustration,

Figure-'2 is a view in transverse section :on the line 2'-2 of Figure 1, I

' Figure 3 is a detail view of the means employed for pumping air into the air containers, i I

Fi ure 4 is a view in horlzontal section showing how the motors and propeller shafts are associated withthe cabin,

Figure 5 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation illustratmgthe balancing means employed for regulating fore and aft trim, 4 l

being Figure 6 is a view in transverse vertical section on the line 66 of Figure 4,

igure 7 is a fragmentary group view in perspective showing the coupling'employed between the engine shaft and the sections of the propeller shaft,

Figures 8 and 9 are detail sectional views on the line 88 and 99 of Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 1 designates generally the buoyant body of the airship. This buoyant body may be of the form shown in the drawings or any suitable form and includes an outer casing 2 and innercontainers or bags 3 and 4, the containers or bags 3' and 4 being adapted to hold gas lighter than air and air, respectively. The buoyancy of the airship is derived from the: gas lighter than air contained in the containers 3 and the air which is supplied'to the containers 4 serves as ballast. The containers 3 and 4 are made of 'gas tight fabric which is, however, flexible so as to be collapsible and expansible.

Means is provided for controlling the supply and exhaust'of air from the air bags or containers 4 and this means may comprise .any suitable type of motor 5 coupled with and driving an air blower and pump 6, the discharge port of which is connected to the main air supply line 7. The supply line 7 is connected to'an air manifold 8 having branches 9 connected to each one of the air bags or containers 4. In the air supply '1 e 7 a plurality of air ports 10 are provided, the ports .10 taking the form of slots. A sleeve valve 12 is slidably fitted on the air supply pipe 7 and may be adjusted to leave the ports 10 open, to cover and close the ports entirely, or to cover and close these ports partially. For the sake of facilitating this adjustme t of the sleeve valve 12 a rockable-control bar 13 is provided and is fulcrumed, as at 14, on hanger bracket 15. The control bar 13 has a pin and slot connection 16 with the sleeve valve 12. One end of the control bar has connected thereto a handle member 17 and the other end of the control bar is counterweighted, as at 18. When the sleeve valve 12 covers the ports;

10 the air forced through the pipe 7 by the blower 6 is forced into the air bags 4; The amount ofair forced into these bags may be varied by partially opening the ports 10 to any desirable extent. When the orts 10 are fully opened. and the blower 6 1s running,

the air bags 4 are inflated to a minimum extent. WVhen it is desirable to cause the (111K ship balloon'to descend to the ground, theweight of the airship and cause it to slowly the same.

descend.

A cabin 20 is suspended below the buoyant body 1 and the propelling means for the airship is mounted on this cabin. This propelling means includes parallel propeller shafts, designated generally at 21. Each propeller shaft 21 includes a pair of sec tions 22 and 23 rotatably mounted in bearing brackets 24 and 25 carried on the cabin 20. At their ends the sections 22 and 23 have fixed thereto propellers 26. Motors, such as internal combustion engines 27, are interposed between the sections 22 and 23 of the propeller shafts and these sections are coupled to the engine shaft by means of interfitting coupling members 28 and 29 illustrated in Fig. 7, the coupling members having interfitting tongues and grooves, desig nated at 30 and 31, respectively. The engines 27 have bearing portions 32 secured thereto and slidably fitted on engine bracket arms 33, the bracket arms 33 being carried by the cabin and the buoyant body. As shown in Figs. 8 and 9 a portion of the bearing 32 completely surrounds the bracket arm 33 and a portion partially surrounds The base of eachengine also has an inclined edge 34 which is engageable with undercut lugs 35 provided at the outer ends of the engine supporting brackets. When the inclined edges 34 of the engine bases are forced against the undercut edges of the lugs 35 of the engine bracket arms, the engines are firmly and securely held in position and at such time the coupling members 28 and 29 are interfitted so that the sections of the propeller shaft are driven from the engines. For the purpose of facilitating movement of the engines and for holding them in posi tion, rotatable engine control rods 37 are provided for each engine, each control rod having its outer end swiveled, as at 38, to a bearing block 32 ofits engine and having an enlarged and. threaded portion 39 :adjacent its inner end engageable with a threaded bearing 40 provided in the wall of the cabin. A hand crank 41 is integrally formed with the inner end of each engine control rod 37. A suitable opening may be provided in the cabin opposite each engine. By turning the hand cranks 41 in the proper direction, the engines 27 may be drawn inwardly by the action of the engaged threaded parts 39 and 40, until these parts are disengaged. Then the rods 37 are pulledinwardly to slide the engines 27 over toward of its propeller shaft the ribs and grooves 30 and 31 are horizontally disposed so that the ribs may slide out of the grooves.

Balancing means is provided for regulating thefore and aft trim or balance of the airship and this means consists of a water tank 45 arranged in the bow of the airship and a combined gasolenc and water tank arranged in the stern of the airship. A slidable piston 47 is fitted for vertical sliding movement in the tank 46 andserves to separate the gasolene G from the water W. Valved pipe lines 38 and 49 and a motor driven pump 50 complete the balancing means. The balancing means operates by drawing water from the tank 45 and pump ing it into the tank 46 below the piston 47, thereby displacing the piston 47 and the gasolene upward or by pumping the water from the tank 46 and discharging it'into the tank 45, thereby lowering the piston 47 and the gasolene port G. In other words, after the bow sinks water is drawn from the water tank 45 and pumped into the tank 46, thereby lightening the bag and increasing the weight of the stern and vice'versa when the stern sinks water is drawn from the tank 46 and pumped into the tank 45 to lighten the stern and weight the bow.

I claim:

1. In an airship, a buoyant body including an outer casing, a container for gas lighter than air arranged within said casing, a container for air also arranged in the casing and engageable with the container for the gas lighter than air, means for supplying and exhausting air to and from said air container and comprising a motor driven blower, a pipe leading from the blower and communicating with the air container, said pipe having a port therein, and a controlcoupled to the propeller shaft, and means for mounting the engines for movement to and from the cabin.

3. In an airship, a buoyant body, a cabin suspended from the body, propeller shafts mounted on the cabin, engines releasably coupled to the propeller shaft, means for mounting the engines for movement to and from the cabin and consisting of bracket arms having lugs at their outer ends provided with undercut faces, engines having bases slidable on said arms and formed with inclined faces engageable with the undercut faces of the lugs, said engine bases also having bearings slidably embracing the bracket arms, and means for holding the engines in position and for moving the same when de--.

sired.

4. In an airship, a buoyant body, a cabin suspended from the body, propeller shafts mounted on the cabin, engines releasably coupled to the propeller shaft, means for mounting the engines for movement to and from the cabin and consisting of bracket arms having lugsat their outer ends provided with undercut faces, engines having bases slidable on said arms and formed with inclined faces engageable with the undercut faces of the lugs, said engine bases also having bearings slidably embracing the bracket arms. and means for holding the engines in position and for moving the same when desired and comprising rotatable control rods having a swivel connection with the engine and a short threaded connection and the cabins.

5. In an airship, a buoyant body, a cabin suspended therefrom, and means for; regulating the fore and aft trim of the airship and including a Water-tank atthe how, a tank at the stern having a piston therein adapted to separate gasolene in the tank from water therein, and means for pumping water from one tank to thepther.

ALLEN BRADFORD. 

